FWB OKs downtown entertainment district

FORT WALTON BEACH — After almost two hours of debate, the City Council on Tuesday approved the proposed downtown entertainment district.

KARI C. BARLOW/Daily News

FORT WALTON BEACH — After almost two hours of debate, the City Council on Tuesday approved the proposed downtown entertainment district.

The measure will require a second and final vote at the council’s March 25 meeting.

The council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance – with a few minor changes – that would create the entertainment district.

Council members agreed to make the ordinance effective May 1 instead of immediately. They also tweaked the entertainment district’s hours of operation, starting later on Thursdays and Fridays to accommodate the afternoon release of students from the Northwest Florida Ballet Academie.

“We don’t want to be Bourbon Street East. We want to be Fort Walton Beach,” said Tim Bolduc, engineering and utility services director for the city. “...There’s a time to be a little more adult, and there’s a time to be a little more kid.”

More than 100 residents and business owners crowded into meeting, standing in the back and even sitting on the floor of the City Council chambers.

The majority of those who spoke on the issue supported the entertainment district but many voiced concerns about how the new regulations would be enforced.

If given a final approval, the entertainment district would be in effect during 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Thursdays; 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fri-days; 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturdays and noon to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Within the district, the city could regulate open container drinking, live and outdoor music according to specific noise limits, special vendor permits and partial street closures for special events.

One of the most vocal opponents of the district was local restaurateur Tom Rice, who owns and operates Magnolia Grill on Brooks Street. He told the council the ordinance was too large and should be split into three smaller measures.

He said he’s opposed to the open container drinking because it will require a “monumental effort” to keep it under control. “We’re not able to handle what we’ve got down there now,” Rice said.

He said he and his wife live and work downtown and that any closure of Brooks Street will hurt their business.

“If you close my street in front of the ballet ... people will just turn around and go the other way,” he said. “... This idea that bringing lots of people downtown, just jamming people down there ... doesn’t make the cash register ring.”

Others said the creation of this district is long overdue.

“I believe it will create a more vibrant area,” said Tara Wesley, vice president of the Downtown Fort Walton Beach Merchants Association. “... Whether or not you like Destin and whether or not you like Pensacola, they are successful. There’s a lot going on there.”

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